| Roots | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Roots_(_1977_miniseries)_American_Broadcasting_Company_poster.png) Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Historical drama |
| Based on | Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley |
| Written by | Alex Haley |
| Screenplay by | Alex Haley James Lee |
| Directed by | |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Gerald Fried Quincy Jones (episode 1) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 (re-edited to 6 for video) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | David L. Wolper |
| Producer | Stan Margulies |
| Cinematography | Stevan Larner, ASC |
| Running time | 45–90 minutes per episode |
| Production company | Wolper Productions |
| Budget | US$6.6 million[1][2] |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 23 – January 30, 1977 |
| Related | |
| Roots: The Next Generations | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, set during and after the era of enslavement in the United States. The series first aired on ABC in January 1977 over eight consecutive nights.
A critical and ratings success over the course of its run, Roots received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings for the finale, which holds the record as the third-highest-rated episode for any type of television series, and the second-most-watched overall series finale in U.S. television history.[3][4]
A sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, first aired in 1979, and a second sequel, Roots: The Gift, a Christmas television film, starring LeVar Burton and Louis Gossett Jr., first aired in 1988. A related film, Alex Haley's Queen, is based on the life of Queen Jackson Haley, who was Alex Haley's paternal grandmother.
In 2016, a remake of the original miniseries, with the same name, was commissioned by the History channel and screened by the channel on Memorial Day.
- ^ "New Roots series expected to yield big bucks for ABC". Ottawa Citizen. February 20, 1979. p. 54. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ Courtis, Brian (February 19, 1979). "Roots...Second Time Around". The Age. p. 2. Retrieved February 25, 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Top 100 Rated TV Shows of All Time, TV By the Numbers". Tvbythenumbers.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (2012). Television's Top 100. US: McFarland. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7864-4891-3. Archived from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2018.